1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, in general, to article dispensers and, specifically, to article dispensers for dispensing articles, such as pills, vitamins and the like, on a time basis at predetermined intervals.
2. State of the Art
Medication, such as pills, vitamins, and the like, is usually taken on a time basis, that is, one or more pills are taken every prescribed time interval, such as every two hours, throughout the day and/or night. Such medications when administered at home are done by the user himself.
Failure to take the specified dosage of medication at the required time intervals greatly diminishes the effectiveness of the medication. Conversely, taking more than the specified dosage at more frequent than prescribed intervals can also lead to undesirable health effects.
This problem is exaggerated when one or more different medications must be taken at different time intervals throughout the day and/or night. Individuals who are elderly or chronically ill frequently do not have sufficient mental capabilities to keep track of the different frequencies and dosages of the medications they are required to take over a sustained period of time. Since such people may be left alone for extended periods of time, a caretaker frequently does not know whether the proper amount and the type of medication was taken at the prescribed time intervals.
HIV and AIDS patients have complicated medication regimens which often involve taking 30 or more pills or capsules daily. Although such individuals do not have diminished mental capabilities, the daily, repetitious regimen of pill selection becomes a burden that frequently results in non-compliance which reduces the effectiveness of the potent drug "cocktails".
Various devices have been developed to address these problems by properly dispensing the required dosage of medications, such as pills, vitamins, and the like, at the prescribed time intervals. One simple device makes use of a conventional mechanical timer to remind the user that it is time to take a particular medication. More complex devices provide the automatic dispensing of one or more medications at a plurality of different time intervals throughout the day and/or night. Such devices typically include a rotatable disk containing a plurality of spaced, individual compartments. Means are provided for successively opening each compartment or for discharging the contents of each compartment on a time basis at prescribed intervals.
Most of the automatic, time-based article dispensers, particularly those designed for dispensing medications such as pills, vitamins, and the like, have a limited amount of storage space, typically covering only one day or one day and night. If such devices are designed to dispense medications over a longer time period, i.e., one week, then the number of separate time intervals at which such medications may be dispensed during each 24-hour time period is reduced to a smaller number, such as four intervals in each 24-hour period.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,514 discloses an automatic medication dispenser containing a plurality of vertically stacked cylinders, each containing a plurality of spaced, individual compartments. Each cylinder is successively engaged from top to bottom in the stack by a drive means to bring successive compartments in each cylinder in line with a chute formed by aligned openings in the cylinders which extend from the top of the stack of cylinders to a lower disposed discharge tray. Thus, the medications, such as the pills, vitamins, etc., in the upper cylinder or cylinders, fall through the chute from the top to the bottom of the stack to reach the discharge tray. Since some pills and vitamins are fragile, such movement and abrupt impact on the discharge tray can cause breakage of such medications, making them difficult to take and interrupting the time dispensing of proper dosages of such medications.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,524 discloses a medication dispenser station which has a plurality of medication-containing cassettes arranged in a vertical stack. The cassettes have aligned discharge openings defining an open discharge chute. The discharge openings in each vertically stacked cassette are alignable with similar openings in adjacent, vertically spaced cassettes to enable a pill from one of the cassettes to fall through the aligned discharge opening of all of the lower cassettes to the article receiver. As in previously described pill dispensers, this length of travel can be considerable and can lead to breakage of the individual pills.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,593 discloses a similar apparatus for dispensing medication which includes a plurality of dose modules rotatably mounted in a vertical stack within a housing. Each disk has a plurality of apertures which are sealed on either side with a pierceable film. A microprocessor activates a dose signal means indicating that a dose of prescribed medication should be dispensed from the device. Manual intervention on the part of an operator is required to actuate an extractor which pierces the film and releases the dose lot contained therein.
It would be desirable to provide an automatic time-based article dispenser, particularly suited for dispensing medications, which overcomes the disadvantages of previously devised automatic article dispensers. It would also be desirable to provide an automatic time-based article dispenser which has extensive article storage for dispensing articles at prescribed time intervals over a long period of time. It would also be desirable to provide an automatic time-based article dispenser which is designed to minimize breakage of the articles during the dispensing of such articles. Finally, it would be desirable to provide an automatic, time-based article dispenser which is easy to load or refill.